Fire extinguisher



Jaar/ze] FIRE EXTINGUISHER Filed July 24 C. K. HUTHSING ETAL June 14, 1955 United States Patent FIRE EXTINGUISHER Charles K. Huthsing and Charles K. Huthsing, Jr., Los Angeles, Calif.

Application `luly 24, 1950, Serial No. 175,545

5 Claims. (Cl. 169-31) This invention relates to a lire extinguisher and more particularly to an extinguisher of the portable tank type which is adapted to discharge its contents with force applied from a gas under pressure.

Objects of the invention are: to provide an extinguisher having a head removable from the tank filler opening wherein the head serves as a support for a gas bottle, a gas tube for conducting gas from the bottle to the lower portion of the tank, a discharge conduit for conveying the fire extinguishing substance to the outside of the tank, and gas bottle opening mechanism, all these elements be- Patented June'14, 1955 'ice of gas through the valve rod guide in which the rod slides.

The tank bottom 14 is shown to be generally frustoconical in shape. Its side wall preferably lies at an angle of greater than 45 relative to the base of the tank and when a dry powdered re extinguishing chemical is used, it is preferred that this angle be approximately 55. This angulation is important where a chemical such as sodium bicarbonate is used in a dry state. This material does not fiow readily when packed in the tank and the angle of the tank bottom 14 must therefore be considerably greater than the angle of repose of a dry material which ilows readily.

It is to be clearly understood, however, that this extinguisher is equally well adapted to handle and discharge a liquid lire extinguishing medium, and is not confine v; to the use of a powder.

A compressed gas conduit or discharge tube 58 has-its upper end mounted in the inner boss 28 of the removable head 24. The tube is in flow communication with the gas chamber 44 and consequently will receive gas from the bottle 32 when the valve 36 is open.

ing removable with the head as a unit; to provide an ex- 1 g tinguisher having a head removable from the filler head of the tank wherein the head carries all of the extinguisher operating mechanism except the tank itself; to provide an improved tank bottom structure which will facilitate proper feeding and discharge of a dry powdered I,

chemical fire extinguishing substance; and to provide a gas tube having an outlet which will work eliiciently with a dry chemical lire extinguishing material.

These and other objects and advantages will more fully appear from the following description made in connection with the accompanying drawing wherein:

Fig. l is a vertical sectional View through a complet extinguisher.

Fig. 2 is an enlarged fragmentary elevational View of the gas tube and its outlet.

In Fig. l there is shown a cylindrical fire extinguisher tank 10 having a beaded lower end 12 and a generally frusto-conical bottom 14.

The upper end of the tank is provided with a liller opening 16 defined by a sleeve 18 which is suitably secured in the tank opening. Said sleeve is externally threaded to receive a threaded collar 20 which lies over a flange 22 on a head 24'. The head has a seal 26 which bears against the inside of the sleeve 18.

The head 24 has an inwardly extending boss 28 which is internally threaded to removably receive the threaded neck of a gas bottle 32. The gas bottle may conveniently be filled with CO2. The bottle neck 30 has an annular valve seat 34 formed therein and located within the neck is a valve head 36 having a rubber sealing surface 38 which is held against the seat 34 by pressure within the gas bottle 32.

The outer side of the head 24 is provided with an upstanding boss 40 and a valve rod 42 is slidable through the boss 40 and extends downwardly and inwardly into a gas outlet chamber 44. The lower end of the valve rod 42 is adapted to engage the valve head 36 and press it inwardly to permit the release of pressurized gas from the bottle 32. The valve rod 42 is pivotally connected at 46 to a hand lever 48. The lever 48 is in turn pivotally connected at 50 to a lug 52 which extends upwardly from the outer boss 49. A carrying handle 54 curves laterally from the top of the boss 40 and beneath the lever 48.

In the gas chamber 4'4 is a seal 56 which lies about the lower portion of the valve rod 42 to prevent the escape The lower end of the gas discharge tube 58 is closed as shown at 6i? in Figs. l and 2. Just above the closed end is a laterally disposed gas outlet opening 62. It has been found that lateral discharge of the gas into the frusto-conical bottom 14 will more efliciently agitate the dry powdered chemical in the lower portion of the tank.

The removable head 24 has a diagonally upright con duit 64 therein. Connected to the head 24 at the lower end of the condit 64 is a fire extinguishing material discharge conduit 66, having clips 67 which support the gas discharge tube 58. The lower end of the conduit 66 is open and terminates in the lower central portion of the frusto-conical tank bottom 14.

The conduit 64 extends upwardly in the boss 40 to communicate with a threaded coupling element 68 which has a flexible discharge tube 70 connected thereto. The outer end of the tube 70 is provided with a valved nozzle 72. The details of the nozzle are not shown since they are conventional. It will be understood that a rigid discharge nozzle may be used equally well, in place of the flexible tube 70.

When the extinguisher is operated by pressing the lever 48 to open the gas valve 36 in the top of the gas bottle 32, gas passes down through the gas tube 58 where it agitates and mixes with the dry chemical in the bottom of the tank 10. The mixture of dry chemical and gas is carried through the discharge conduits 66 and 64 and thence through the tube 70 and outlet nozzle 72.

When the extinguisher is to be recharged, the threaded collar 20 is removed from the threaded sleeve 18. Then the head 24 can be lifted from the tank opening. The removal of the head will also remove the gas bottle 32, gas tube 58 and discharge conduit 66. Of course, when the gas bottle 32 has been replaced with a full bottle, the entire assembly is again connected to the tank structure by means of the single coupling element which is the threaded collar 24.

With an extinguisher head constructed in accordance with this invention, it is a simple matter to recharge the extinguisher. Furthermore, it is unnecessary to provide a separate aperture in the wall of the tank 10 through which the outlet or discharge conduit passes as in ordinary lire extinguisher constructions. ln the event the tank per se requires replacement, an exchange can be made merely by removing and attaching the threaded collar 20. ln other words, all parts of the extinguisher except the tank are associated with and supported by the removable head 24.

lt is to be understood that changes can be made in the specific form and details without departing from the spirit of the invention.

We claim:

1. In a tire extinguisher, tank having an opening therein, a head removably' closing said opening and having inner and outer portions facing inwardly and outwardly relative to said tank, said tank being free of any other opening, said head having a gas bottle coupling portion on the inner side thereof, said head also having a gas i'low conduit for conducting gas from said bottle to the inside of said tank exteriorly of the bottle, a discharge conduit extending through a portion of said head from the inside to the outside thereof, said gas ow conduit having an outlet adjacent to but outside of the inlet of the discharge conduit, and a gas bottle ow control device having a portion movable relative to said head and extending from the outside to the inside of said head and terminating adjacent said coupling.

2. in a re extinguisher, a cylindrical sheet metal tank having a downwardly converging bottom conical insert of sheet metal and a tiat base, the angle of which relative to the base of the tank being greater than 45.

3. ln a tire extinguisher', a tank having an opening therein, a head removably secured to the tank to close the opening, said head having a gas bottle coupling portion on the inner side thereof, a gas discharge tube supported by said head and arranged for flow communication with a bottle located within the tank and supported by said head, a discharge conduit extending through a portion of the head from the inner side to an outer portion thereof, a discharge tube connected to the inner end of said discharge conduit and extending downwardly in said tank, a projection extending from the exterior of thc head in a generally lateral direction to provide a handle for hand support of the extinguisher, a gas bottle puncturing pin extending downwardly through the head in slideable relationship to the head and in alignment with the gas bottle coupling portion, an operating lever for the puncturing pin having engagement with the pin, said lever being supported on said head in overlying relationship to said handle and movable vertically relative to the handle, the handle, puncturing pin operating lever and the outer end of said discharge conduit being substantially in the same vertical plane.

4. In a tire extinguisher, a generally cylindrical sheet metal tank, a gas bottle support carried by said tank and adapted to support a gas bottle within the tank, said tank having a cylindrical lower end constituting a base and upwardly from said base having a bottom slanting inwardly and downwardly to a concentration point, a gas tube extending from said gas bottle support to said concentration point, and a discharge conduit extending through said gas bottle support downwardly and having an inlet adjacent to but spaced from the end of the gas tube at said concentration point.

5. In a tire extinguisher, a tank having an opening therein, a head removably secured to the tank and closing the opening, a gas bottle coupling portion on the inner side of the head adjacent the center of the head, a downwardly and inwardly sloping bottom in the tank having a small lower end substantially centered in the tank, a discharge conduit extending through the head and downwardly in the tank, a gas supply conduit having an inlet in flow communication with the gas bottle coupling portion and extending downwardly in the tank, the upper portions of the gas supply and discharge conduits being disposed oil-center in the upper portions of the tank and laterally of the gas bottle coupling portion, and the lower ends of the conduits being closely adjacent each other and disposed substantially centrally of the tank and terminating substantially in the lower central portion of the tank bottom, the olfcenter upper portions of the conduits permitting location of a gas bottle in a substantially balanced position adjacent the center of the head while the lower ends of the conduits are centered in the tank bottom.

References Cited in the tile of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,645,163 Schwartz Oct. 11, 1927 1,724,366 Riegel Aug. 13, 1929 1,866,981 Meigs July l2, 1932 2,385,449 Koehler Sept. 25, 1945 2,559,634 Keefe, Jr., et al July 10, 1951 2,620,038 Somers et al Dec. 2, 1952 

